NATIONAL ROSE CONFERENCE. 



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from the union of the Tea- scented Roses with the " Hybrid Per- 

 petuals." But there are numerous other races quite as well 

 adapted to this treatment — some of them originating in far dif- 

 ferent climes from ours, but now grown in this country without 

 difficulty or special treatment — and of these many have been culti- 

 vated here time out of mind. There is the Macartney Rose, with a 

 foliage of surpassing beauty and a most fragrant flower ; the Rosa 

 camellicefolia, with its deep green shining camellia-like leaves, on 

 which no mildew could find a foothold, and no caterpillar could 

 roll into a dormitory. Then there are the Ayrshire and Semper- 

 virens Roses, small indeed of flower, but of growth equipped in 

 seven-leagued boots. The Japanese Rosa rugosa too, hardy of con- 

 stitution, and, when the bloom is over, showy with its scarlet fruit ; 

 and lastly, there is our own Sweet Briar, or Eglantine, capable 

 of carrying into any family with which it should mate the dowry 

 of a sweet-smelling leaf and a constitution that defies the ravages 

 of mildew, and the crippling cruelties of frost. That the union 

 of these races, or some of them, with our present beautiful 

 " Hybrid Perpetuals " is possible, I venture to assert. It would 

 be over-sanguine to expect as an immediate result from any such 

 unions, flowers which in size and colour would surpass what we 

 already possess. But strength of constitution— freer habit of 

 growth— the production of clusters in place of triplets or solitary 

 flowers —novelty in foliage and colour, including that of a true 

 yellow — and last, but not least, a variety of exquisite odours — all 

 these may be within the reach of those who will stretch out 

 their hand to grasp them. 



The time and trouble which a carefully executed system of 

 hybridising would demand, might well be the dread of the nur- 

 seryman, but they should be the attraction of the amateur. It 

 is to the amateurs, then, that I address myself. I offer them a 

 pursuit the interest of which never flags. The constant revelation 

 of new results supplies a pleasurable anxiety which surpasses that 

 of the fishing-rod — if it does not equal that of the lottery. Fol- 

 lowed amid the ever fresh delights of the garden, this pursuit 

 groups around itself everything that can charm the senses and 

 tranquillise the mind. 



To the young and vigorous it would prove an incentive to 

 manual labour in the open air, after hours perhaps of confine- 

 ment and a long strain of mental effort. To those whose health 



